Bedford budget for coming year to see modest increase

Bedford voters will take up the fiscal 2012 budget of $71.28 million, which selectmen and the Finance Committee are recommending be passed at this year’s Town Meeting.

By Eileen Kennedy

Bedford voters will take up the fiscal 2012 budget of $71.28 million, which selectmen and the Finance Committee are recommending be passed at this year’s Town Meeting.

This is an increase of 2.1 percent increase over this year’s budget.

Overall, the budget increase is modest but certain items are definite budget busters like a 15.1 percent increase in principal and interest for items that have been bought through debt exclusion purchases. This means that the town can bond, in other words borrow, to pay for these items outside the limits of Proposition 2 ½, which keeps tax increases to the 2 ½ of a community’s tax limit.

This year $7.7 million is needed, which is an increase of slightly more than $1 million over from last year’s $6,745,817 for debt payments.

Selectman Walter St. Onge said during a recent public forum on the budget that this coming fiscal year, which begins on July 1, is the peak year for the debt payments. The debt is the result of “a completely refreshed building infrastructure” process that began 20 years ago. All of the schools were refurbished including the latest project at Bedford High School. Once the peak payment has been made, the payments will continue to decline every year until it is paid off, he said.

Another increase has been in insurance and benefits, which went up 4.8 percent or an increase of $457,500. This coming year’s budget for that is $9.9 million up from this year’s $9.4 million, an increase of $457,000. That includes health insurance, retirement assessment, general insurances, Medicare assessment, unemployment insurance and life insurance.

Of those groups, the biggest increase was in retirement assessments, which went up by 7.4 percent. The town has to increase the money it puts away to fund retirement benefits because like many towns, it had not put away enough for future retirees and came up with the money as people retired.

The biggest budget within the town is that of the School Dept., which has settled on a budget of $32.2 million, which also includes about $562,000 in state aid to cover some of the cost of educating children from Hanscom Air Force Base who attend Bedford High School. This budget was also made possible through negotiations with the teachers’ union, which agreed to .5 percent raises during the first and second years of a three-year contract. The union also agreed to delay the raises, as well as any step raises, until the ninety-first day of the first and second years. The third year will see 2 percent raises, at the beginning of the school year and in January. This will save the town $250,000.

Several departments saw similar increases to the overall budget with the Dept. of Public Works getting a 1.9 percent increase, going from $9.37 million this year to $9.55 million this coming year. Three residents at a recent financial forum said that they were not concerned about the department’s management, but all expressed concern about the need for certain equipment, such as lawnmowers, which the DPW is requesting outside of the budget.

The Fire Dept. is getting a .9 percent increase, from $2.20 million to $2.22 million. And the Police Dept. is getting a 1.9 percent increase, going from $3.16 million to $3.22 million.

The Council on Aging will see an increase of 2.3 percent, or about a little more than $4,000 increase. The Public library will also see a .9 percent increase, which amounts to an $89,689 increase.

Several departments will see decreases including the budget for elections and voter registration, which will see a 32.8 percent decrease, going from $48,853 to $32,821.

The Financial Committees will see a 6.2 percent decline, going from $405,614 to $380,614. The Board of Assessors and the Planning Board will also see small declines.

There are also a number of budgets that will see no changes at all including the Board of Health, legal services, Recreation Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission.